Chapter 34 Agonizing Words

Saliday froze. He was so still that not even the blood in his veins moved, or at the very least that's what it felt like. He stared at the door, trying to form words to say but being unsuccessful in all of his attempts. Mavery was in an equally frozen state, her red eyes as wide as the sun.

"You're who?" She asked.

"Didn't you hear her?" The brute asked. "She's your granddaughter! Celia Patch is her name."

Saliday's mind locked onto that last name. Patch. Patch. Why did...why….

Oh dear developer. She was Singe's daughter. He was the kid that he had with...the human.

In that instant, Saliday felt sick to his stomach. The ordinary sight of the door resting closed behind him filled him with horrible dread. He felt dirty. He felt extremely dirty knowing that that child was the one resting on the other side of the door.

He….he couldn't breathe.

"Can you let us in?" The brute asked. "We would like to ask you a few questions."

Saliday swallowed a batch of vomit and turned toward Mavery. She still looked pretty shaken, unable to move. He could practically hear the word "granddaughter" echoing off the walls of her head. So, it fell on him to make the first. He stepped toward the door and slowly opened it.

And that's when he saw her.

He stared at Celia, she stared back. She blinked out her eyes as she stared into his face. He, meanwhile, was taken aback by her features. Her eyes were Mavery's; as red as a ripe apple. And her hair….

Her hair. Lava red at the roots, citrus orange as you went down, and honey yellow at the tips. That wasn't just anybody's hair. That was the hair of the Marksmite clan. Saliday's own mother had hair like that. It glittered in the sunlight, shined under the glow of the moon. Saliday himself hadn't inherited that hair color (his baby blue hair came from his father), but his son did. And it appeared that Singe had passed those particular genes down to his child.

Saliday, despite his earlier nervousness, actually managed to smile. Sure, it was still surreal that he was seeing this girl. But...there was something about her. She was his granddaughter. His only granddaughter, the child of his one and only son. Realizing this, something clicked within the old Koopa. He couldn't help but beam at her.

"Hello, dear."

Celia blinked. "He...hello."

The brute chuckled. "She sure is a beauty, isn't she?"

Saliday nodded. "She certainly is." This caused Celia to turn vermillion.

"Sally?"

Saliday turned at the sound of Mavery's voice. The old Koopa woman still looked shocked, but she had clearly recovered if she was able to talk. Saliday kept his hand on the doorknob and the smile on his face.

"Mavery, would you like to meet our granddaughter?"

Before Mavery could respond, Saliday gestured for the two people to enter the house. The brute examined the place with a look of intrigued wonder.

"Nice place," he said. "You guys must have spent a lot of money to get here."

Saliday chuckled. "We did pay a decent amount to buy the house, yes."

Mavery just stared at Celia. Her lips moved up and down, but no sound came out. Her fists opened and closed. "Yo...you?"

Celia turned toward her grandmother and nodded. "Yes."

"You're...Singe's daughter?"

Celia shrunk into the ground a little. "Yes.

Saliday felt nervousness over taking him again. It filled his stomach and rushed up his throat in the form of vomit. But that wasn't all. There was another emotion. He wanted to ignore it, he really did. Unfortunately, he couldn't. It is nearly impossible to ignore a feeling as strong as guilt.

Saliday turned toward Mavery. "Remember when Singe came to us to tell us he was going to be a dad?"

Mavery's eyes grew wide with realization. She stared at Celia, but at the same time, she didn't really look at her at all. Her eyes glazed over the half human hybrid.

"That was sixteen years ago." Her fists clenched up, she grit her teeth. "And he said that he was having a baby with a...human."

Saliday cringed. The way Mavery said human...he looked at Celia and the brute. Both seemed to sense that something was amiss. Both could hear the thunder that indicated a storm rolling in.

He put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Now, Mavie, there isn't anything wrong with humans, right?" He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Right?"

Mavery didn't respond. Whether that was because she didn't hear or was simply ignoring, Saliday didn't know. She stared at her granddaughter with hatred in her eyes. A low growl escaped from her throat. She muttered something under her breath, something that made Saliday seize up. Did...did she really say that? Did she really believe that?

"What did you say?" Celia asked, her tone indicating fear and hesitance.

Mavery's eyebrows scrunched up even more. "You're an abomination."

Normally, there were two categories of silence people usually talked about; peaceful and awkward. However, the silence that followed the statement that Mavery said fell into the third category, the category that nobody ever talked about. It was painful. It hurt Saliday's soul. It was a stinging silence, an agonizing silence.

Celia and the brute who accompanied her stared at Mavery with wide eyes. Clearly, they were feeling the silence was providing as well.

"What?" Celia finally squeaked.

Mavery glared at the girl. Her expression was so raw, so hateful that Saliday had to back away.

"Mavery," he cajoled, but his cajoling had no effect on this woman.

"You go against the laws of nature," Mavery whispered. She seethed, veins in her head became visible. "You're a horrible creature! You and your human mother!"

Celia looked beyond shaken. Her mouth hung open, her eyes watered. The brute looked equally shaken, equally torn up.

"How...how can you say that?" He asked. "She's...she's your granddaughter!"

Mavery scoffed. "I have no granddaughter." She placed her hands on her hips. "Just like I have no son. The day that Singe came to tell us about...about….you...I told him to never come back." She glared at Celia. "I suppose you're here on his behalf? He always tried to find loopholes."

Celia swallowed a lump. She directed her head down toward the ground. "Actually, I am looking for him. I never met him."

Saliday's heart stopped. "He...he abandoned you?" When Celia nodded, there were so many emotions swarming inside him that he couldn't move.

Mavery, however, laughed. "Oh ho! That's one good decision he made. I'm glad he developed enough common sense to realize that he made the biggest mistake of his life!"

This time, Celia actually cried. The tears pouring from her eyes stung Saliday's heart. He was the one to blame. He was the reason why Singe abandoned Celia. He was who caused those tears. He needed to do something. He couldn't just stand there and allow those tears to stain that pretty face.

Before he could speak up, however, Celia ran off. She thrust open the door and rushed away from the house, hee feet pounding against the path. The purple shelled brute called out and ran after her, slamming the door shut as he left. This just left Saliday with her. He didn't want to call her Mavery, because she bore no resemblance to the girl that he married. That girl was beautiful. That girl was loving. That girl was nice. This...this creature was none of those things.

"Well," said Mavery. She wiped her hands together, indicating she was scrubbing her hands dry of the situation. "Got rid of her." She turned toward the kitchen. "I'm going to put my china back. Afterwards, I'm going to make some cookies. How does chocolate chip sound, Sally?"

Saliday swallowed a lump. "That...sounds great." He wasn't going to try them. After what just happened, any food his wife made would probably just taste bitter and salty.

With that, Mavery exited the room, pretending that none of what just unfolded unfolded. Saliday, however, just stood there, trying to decide what to do. He looked at the door. He could still hear the slamming in his ears. He could still see Celia's tears. Heck, he could even feel the sensation of his own tears in his eyes. They felt warm, and when they trickled down his cheeks and onto his lips, he got a taste of salt.

Was it possible to fix this? Was it possible for him to fix a mistake this grand? Could he atone for his sins? Could he help out his kin?

Saliday looked at the door again. The knob shined in front of him, pleading with him to turn it. He realized that there was only one way to find out the answer to all of those questions, and it was not by standing here. So, Saliday placed his hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and exited the house.